BBC Wales's Simon Morris"The symbolism of the setting must have been irresistable" real 28k

Thursday, 2 March, 2000, 19:36 GMT

Hague rallies troops despite protest

William Hague makes a point to people in Monmouth

An egg was thrown at Tory leader William Hague during a "Save the Pound" rally in Wales.

Mr Hague was not hit but Conservative Welsh Assembly member Glyn Davies and a BBC Wales cameraman were on
the receiving end.

The Tory leader was visiting Monmouth as part of his campaign against the single European currency.

Speaking in the central square under a statue of Henry V, Mr Hague said staying out of the Euro was in the interests of Wales.

But as he addressed the crowd with his message - in Europe but not run by Europe - an egg was thrown from the crowd.

Mr Hague ignored the stunt and carried on speaking.

Later Mr Davies, the party's finance spokesman at the Assembly, said: "I was a touch miffed that the event ruined my suit jacket but it was the nearest I will ever come to playing out a Kevin Costner bodyguard fantasy.

Ruined suit: Glyn Davies

"In any case I used to manage a 20,000 hen egg laying unit and I was not in the least bit fazed by being covered in egg yolk."

A spokesman for Gwent Police said no formal complaint had been received about the incident in Monmouth but he said the force would investigate.

Farmer Mr Davies hit the headlines last year after police who stopped him at
the wheel of a lorry-load of sheep discovered he was not wearing any trousers.

He had removed his trousers after falling in manure while loading the sheep. Police stopped him for a faulty tail light.

Conservative strategists claimed Mr Hague's campaign, which runs until Easter, was their best hope of striking a chord with voters.

But there were complaints that many of the listeners had been bussed in.